Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Oct 26/05) - Drivers in Rankin Inlet are seeing the dawn of a new era for RCMP spot checks in the community - and they better get used to it.

That was the message delivered by new detachment head Sgt. Gavin Nash at a regular meeting of hamlet council earlier this month.

Nash told council the Rankin detachment took part in the national Operation Impact program during the holiday Thanksgiving weekend.

It was the first time Operation Impact was held in Nunavut.

The RCMP set up a spot check at the main four-way intersection downtown.

By the time they called it an evening, they had handed out 36 non-moving violations and one driving-under-the-influence charge, issued two 24-hour suspensions and seized two vehicles.

Nash said the results show how big an issue non-compliance is in Rankin when one considers the public was warned about the roadblocks.

"We know there's a problem with drinking and driving in this community and we're going to do our best to solve that problem," said Nash.

"We plan on holding more spot checks as consistently as our manpower allows, and we'll be moving them around and holding them at different times.

"It's no big secret a lot of drinking and driving happens in the community between midnight and 4 a.m."

Nash said he's also concerned about the number of uninsured vehicles in Rankin.

He said it's difficult to understand why some people risk a major investment by not having insurance.

"There's two areas drivers without insurance are at risk, and that's in addition to the fact it's against the law.

"Insurance protects your investment if you're in an accident, or if somebody steals your vehicle and causes major damage to it.

"While we haven't seen that much of it in the North yet, you can also be sued by somebody who gets hurt in your vehicle and, without insurance, you could be looking at serious financial consequences."

Nash said the detachment will continue to inform the public as to when spot checks will be set up.

He said the police are looking for compliance, not offenders.

"I don't want to catch people. I want people not to drink and drive.

"Any day I don't catch anybody doing anything wrong - that's a good day for me."